Published on April 28, 2021
Officer Greg Lochner joined the Maricopa Police Department in November of 2012 and he currently serves in our patrol division. Greg hails from DeForest, Wisconsin, and is married with two children. During his time with MPD, Greg has also served as a field training officer (FTO) and spent 2.5 years as an undercover detective with the Arizona Vehicle Theft Task Force (AVTTF). The Vehicle Theft Task Force or “RATTLER” (Regional Auto Theft Team Law Enforcement Response) is administered and led by the Arizona Dept. of Public Safety (AZ DPS) and organized under the Border Strike Force. As a part of the Border Strike Force, AVTTF also works to combat border crimes and thwart transnational criminal organizations. AVTTF personnel are highly motivated and focused on the apprehension of criminal offenders and traffickers involved in stolen vehicles and related crimes. In 2019, the Vehicle Theft Task Force recovered 1,635 stolen vehicles (136 were repatriated stolen vehicles from Mexico) with an estimated value of more than $23.7 million. Greg prefers cake to pie, PC to Apple, and prefers the movie to the book. His favorite football team is the Green Bay Packers (Go Cheeseheads!) His hobbies include fishing, riding dirt bikes, and spending time with his family. Greg’s favorite restaurant is YC’s Mongolian Grill, in Gilbert. His favorite musical artist is Chris Ledoux (that’s real country!). His favorite ice cream is Thrifty’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (just a simple man). Two of his favorite movies are Days of Thunder, and Tombstone. One of the best vacations Greg says he ever took was to the Atlantis resort, in Paradise Island, Bahamas. Greg hung-out with a wonderful young lady friend of his and from there, they ended up getting married. Greg’s been smitten with her ever since! Greg says his worst job ever was when he was a kid and worked as a grocery bagger at a grocery store. Greg says that standing there for 8-hours a day, bagging groceries, just wasn’t his thing. After growing up, Greg joined the military and later worked as a construction supervisor, prior to commencing his career in law enforcement. Greg got into law enforcement for the stability and opportunities to help people, which the construction field could not provide. One of Greg’s career highlights he’s most proud of was from his time as an undercover detective in AVTTF, where recovered over 250 stolen vehicles and made over 100 felony arrests. But one of Greg’s proudest accomplishments is from his time as a Calvary Recon Scout, in the U.S. Army. During that time, Greg completed the Spur Ride. The Order of the Spur is a Cavalry tradition within the United States Army. The Spur Ride is an event normally held over multiple days during which soldiers must pass a series of physical and mental tests that evaluate leadership, technical and tactical proficiency, and the ability to operate as part of a team under high levels of stress and fatigue during both day and night conditions. The Spur Ride is not for everyone. To qualify, soldiers first have to have perfect physical training scores and weapons proficiency. Greg ‘s Spur Ride included mud crawls and a 35-mile march with a 125-lb. ruck sack. 160 soldiers entered that Spur Ride and when the dust had settled, only seven soldiers were left standing; Greg was one of those seven! Greg is a family man at heart. His definition of success is living a good life and taking care of one’s family. The person who’s had the biggest influence and impact on Greg is his dad – “My dad always ensured the kids had what we needed and he was the hardest worker I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”. Greg brings this work ethic of diligence, honor, and family values into his job at MPD. We are so glad to have him on our team! Well, that concludes this edition of the MPD Employee Spotlight. Stay tuned for the next edition, coming soon!